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IIFA SpecIAlBolly-wooed,Bowled overStars, dance, music, fun, glamour, colour and more...The IIFA was the perfect window on the wonders ofIndian cinematic culture, says Radhika BhiraniWith its heady cocktail of dance, music and glitterati, the12th InternationalIndian Film Academy (IIFA) celebrations will be etched in the memoriesof people in Canada’s largest city, Toronto, for a long time to come. ManyNRIs played their part by showing up in the best of Indian finery; and forthose of other nationalities, it was the perfect window on the wonders of Indian cinematicculture. Day after day, the Fairmont Royal Park Hotel in downtown Toronto sawitself snowed under with fans. And it wasn’t just Indians who queued up, eager Canadianswere equally animated about getting a taste of Indian cinema.The three-day IIFA Weekend concluded on June 25 with a host of Bollywood celebritieslike Boman Irani, Riteish Deshmukh, Mallika Sherawat, Bipasha Basu and American musicianJermaine Jackson at the inaugural press conference. The evening saw a star-studded greencarpet event for the world premiere of Double Dhamaal at the SilverCity Theatre in Bramptoncity. On the second day, Ontario had a taste of the phenomenon called Shah Rukh Khan.Hundreds gathered in the lobby of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel to welcome ‘King’Khan. While the SRK magic continued to charm everyone in the hotel, Salman Khan’sdebut co-production Chillar Party kicked off the IIFA Film Festival. The ceremony to namea street after legendary Indian actor Raj Kapoor also took place on day two of the IIFA.On the same day, IIFA Rocks — a music and fashion event hosted by Karan Johar andAnushka Sharma witnessed a performance by Jermaine, who teamed up with Indian singerSonu Nigam to pay a tribute to his younger brother, the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson.The last day saw the coming together of two worlds as Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, lyricistJaved Akhtar and composers Vishal Bharadwaj and Salim Merchant conducted a musicworkshop to share and promote the music being created in both the countries.38 Pravasi Bharatiya July 2011